Kara: I Will Protect You
by My-Friend-KITT
Summary: This storyline is set about 3 years later. It will also contain a character death. However, I have plans for Kara and this storyline had to be completed to do it.
1. Chapter 1

Kara: I Will Protect You with All My Mind, Body, and Soul

Chapter 1

"Daddy! Daddy! Lookee!" A little 3 year old Kara had both little hands deep in the dirty bait bucket. She then pulled out two fistfuls of dirty red earthworms. While grinning from ear to ear, she confidently held up her wiggling prizes.

"I see Sweety." Peter Caine smiled at his precious 3 year old as he continued to hold on tight to his fly-fishing pole. "So, what do you plan to do with them?" He asked with a sly smile. Peter absolutely loved watching her young mind think.

Kara stood there thinking hard for a second with her tiny hands in the air. Then out of the blue, she quickly stuffed a whole fistful of the earthworms into her tiny mouth.

Stunned, Peter dropped his fly-fishing pole and rushed over to his devilishly smiling daughter. "Kara, Spit those out! Yucky! Yucky!"

He tenderly scooped Kara into his arms. "Here." He commanded as he held out his hand. "Spit those out."

With tears filling her brown eyes, she spit out her mouthful of earthworms into his waiting palm.

Peter quickly wiped the nasty mess against the sharp edge of his metal bait bucket. While carefully juggling his beautiful daughter, he pulled a terrycloth towel out of his fishing pack and proceeded to wipe her cute little face off. Peter then carefully coaxed her to drop the second handful of earthworms back into the aluminum bucket. Finally, after diligently wiping down her hands, he had her all cleaned up.

"I didn't think that you would try to eat them." He laughed. "If you were so hungry, why didn't you say so?" He added as her set her down and gathered up her tiny hand into his.

"Cookie!" Kara screamed as she tried skipping ahead while pulling hard on her Daddy's hand.

"Okay, we will break for lunch." He gave in as he let her tug him toward the waiting Dodge Stealth.

Once back at the waiting purple car, Peter pulled the silver lunch tote out of the trunk along with a red plaid blanket. He softly tossed the red plaid blanket into the air to spread it out but Kara insisted on sitting in the car. "Here Daddy! Here."

So instead, Peter opened up the large silver lunch tote and handed Kara her absolute favorite snack in the whole wide world, Animal Crackers.

"Thank You." Kara said dismissively as she snagged the colorful box from her Daddy. She struggled with determination but managed to get into the Stealth's driver's seat. Once inside, Kara crawled into the passenger's seat and began frantically tearing at the cardboard box of animal crackers.

Meanwhile, Peter had pulled out a Tupperware container of tuna salad and opened up a bag of Ritz crackers. He carefully scooped up some of the tuna salad with the brown cracker and offered it to his cute daughter.

Kara shook her head 'no' and offered up her beat up animal cracker box with tears in her eyes. "Daddy?"

Peter gently patted his leg and opened his strong and yet comfortable arms to invite Kara to sit on his warm lap.

Kara happily crawled onto his warm leg and contentedly leaned her dainty head against his strong chest. She then whimpered pitifully as she offered him then unopened animal cracker box.

As Peter easily opened the beat-up box, Kara ran her tiny fingers over his raised Shaolin Dragon brand. Daddy usually wore a long sleeve shirt. However, today he wore a comfy cotton T-shirt. For the first time ever, he showed his forearms to Kara.

Kara peered up into her dad's soft brown eyes with real concern. "Daddy, hurt?"

"No, not now Kara. It did when I got them but not now." He told her as he presented both brands side-by-side. "Your Granddad has them too, you know?"

As her Daddy stretched out his arms to show off his boo-boos, Kara reached out and snatched the cracker box. She then snuggled in close to her Daddy's strong chest. She could hear the soft thumping in his chest and she LOVED it. Kara happily snacked on the animal cookies as she listened to her Daddy tell a story about his boo-boos. Soon, she was sound asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara- I Will Protect You With All My Mind Body and Soul

Chapter 2

Kara woke to the sudden chaos of four men surrounding her and her Daddy. She was no longer in the warm car on her Daddy's lap but instead she was laid out onto the red plaid blanket that her Daddy had spread out earlier in the afternoon. She jumped up screaming.

"Kara! Run! Hide!" Peter yelled as he kept the well-trained attackers at bay.

Kara stood perfectly in place, frozen by the shock that overwhelmed her. Her eyes were wide in fear and her face was pale like it had been drained of all blood.

Peter saw out of the corner of his eye that Kara had not moved. Not even an inch. And to add to his fear, one of the burly attackers had caught sight of the shocked 3-year-old and was stalking the defenseless child.

"Kara!" He yelled out while he defended off a few quick blows. "Hide-and-Seek!"

A game? Daddy wanted to play a game now?

"One!" Peter began to scream. He really hoped that this would work because the massive assailant stalking Kara was only two steps away from capturing the stunned child. "Two!"

Seeing as her Daddy really did want to play, Kara quickly crawled under the purple Dodge Stealth. This would be a great hiding place.

"I see you!" Peter yelled at the top of his lungs as he swiped an attacker's legs out from under him. "You can do better than that, Sweety."

Kara put on a pouty face.

"Three!" Peter began counting again. He needed her to hide well. Under the car was too close and too easy for the smart attackers to capture her. "Four!"

Kara quickly crawled out from under the purple car on the opposite side. She then hurriedly looked around the dense surrounding forest for the best hiding spot. She spotted a big leafy bush not far away and ran full blast to it.

"Five!" Peter called as he noticed his daughter's shadow disappear from under the quietly sitting car.

"Peter Caine!" A new and ominous voice called out. "I have waited many years for this day. You have avoided your destiny long enough! You have taken away my life! Now I must return the favor."

Kara heard leaf-crunching footsteps approach her dark hiding place in the bush and held her breath. She became as still as the bushes around her.

Suddenly from straight above her, a very loud crack rang through the air. Kara screamed at the top of her lungs and jumped out of her big bush. She ran like a rat being chased by a cat. Her panicked dash took her from bush to bush in no real direction. Finally, she gave up and stopped at a really big bushy one, exhausted.

"Today, you die Peter Caine!" As the words echoed through the canopy of the trees, they were joined by another deafening crack sound.

While still panting from her panicked run, Kara quietly cried from her dark hiding place. She didn't like this game, now.

"I'll go find the kid." A viciously deep voice announced.

"No! We will not waste anymore time on this." The original nasty voice spoke up. "She is only a baby. Let the wolves have her. We are done. Move Out!"

With those words, Kara heard a lot of movement but it became quieter and quieter as time wore on.

Kara waited for her Daddy to call her out. He didn't.

Finally she gave up. "Daddy?!" She yelled as she stepped out of the safety of the big bushy bush.

He didn't answer.

"Daddy?!" She yelled even louder as she approached the purple car.

He didn't answer.

Kara curiously walked around the front of the Stealth and stopped. She could see her Daddy sleeping in the grass just a little beyond the edge of the red plaid blanket.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara-I Will Protect You With All My Mind Body and Soul

Chapter 3

"Daddy?" Kara softly called as she curiously sneaked over to her sleeping Daddy. He was laid out on his side facing away from the purple Stealth and her.

She tenderly shook him. "Daddy, are you awake?" She whispered into his ear.

He didn't move or answer her.

Kara roughly tugged on the plaid blanket and carefully pulled it over her sleeping Daddy. She then tiredly cuddled up against him and jerked some of the blanket over herself. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

When Kara awoke, it was pitch dark out in the scary forest. She was scared in the dark. "Daddy, are you awake?" She whispered in fear as she shook him again.

He didn't move or answer her.

"Daddy?!" She nearly screamed as she shook him harder.

He didn't move or answer her.

"Daddy, I'm scared! Wake up."

Then Kara remembered what he had taught her. "If something bad happens, Sweety, use this." He carefully instructed as he showed her his cellular telephone. "And push this right here. Tell them to come and help." He showed her how to push the auto-dial for 911. Then he had her use it a couple of times.

"Daddy, I go get help, okay?" Kara said through tears as she hugged him.

Luckily, Peter had left the heavy car door hanging wide open. Kara was definitely not tall or strong enough to open it alone. She struggled hard as she crawled up inside the dark car. Once she was finally firmly inside the dark and scary car's driver's seat, she felt around for Daddy's mobile phone. Kara quickly found it sitting inside the cup holder.

Kara fearfully leapt out of the dark and scary car and dashed full-speed back to her Daddy's side. While still shaking with fear, she quickly climbed under the blanket and snuggled back up close to him. Once she finally felt safe and comfortable next to Daddy, she lightly pushed the little button Daddy had showed her.

"911—What is your emergency?" A stern female voice questioned.

"Daddy hurt." Kara wimpered.

"How old are you, Sweety?" The woman asked sweetly as she realized that she was dealing with a small child.

"I be 3." Kara happily announced.

"Okay Honey, what is wrong with your daddy?"

"He sleeping…won't wake up." Kara worriedly answered as she tried to shake him awake again.

"Ohh, okay Sweety, We are going to send some help to him now, okay? Do you know where you are?" The nice woman asked just as sweetly as before.

"I in dark…I scared! You help." Kara was beginning to cry again.

"Are you at home?"

"No." Kara whispered fearfully as she looked up at the scary tree branches above her.

"Are you somewhere inside a building or car?"

"No, I in dark. I scared! Daddy no wake up." Kara sobbed.

"Shh Sweety, we are coming to help you. It's okay. By the way, what is your name?" The 911 opereator lady asked as a way to divert the girl's attention away from being scared.

Through hiccups and tears, she whispered, "Kara".

"Hi Kara, I'm Dana. You hold on, okay? We are coming to help." Dana answered reassuredly.

"Okay, hurry. I scared." Kara whimpered as she pushed up harder against her Daddy.

"Kara, I need your help, okay? You said that you are in the dark, right? Can you tell me where?"

"Daddy take me fi…fis…fish." Kara stuttered on the really hard word.

"Fishing?" Dana guessed.

"Yeah, That!" Kara agreed loudly.

"So Kara, are you by water that is moving or are you by water that is big and quiet?" Dana asked as best as she could word the sentence for a 3-year-old.

"Water quiet." Kara mumbled as she peeked out from under the warm blanket. Her brown eyes caught the shiny reflection of the full moon on the still water and she was mesmerized by it.

"Okay Kara, I need to turn off the phone for a little bit so I can send help to you faster, okay?" Dana knew that this would not go over well but she had to locate all the fishing holes and dispatch Search and Rescue.

"No!" Kara screamed at the top of her lungs. "I is scared." She began sobbing loudly. "You no leave!"

Dana needed a tactic, but what would work on a 3-year-old? "Kara, do you know your last name?"

"Last name?" She asked while still panting from crying.

"Yeah, it is usually said right after Kara. Here, my last name is Martin. So I am called Dana Martin. Do you have a name like that?"

Kara lay quietly next to her Daddy for nearly a minute while thinking about what that name could be. Then it struck her, "Sweety! Daddy say Sweety."

"Thank you Kara." Dana knew that that name was not the girl's last name but she had to keep her distracted. "Do you know your Daddy's name?"

"Kara softly rolled over under the warm blanket to face her Daddy. She then poked his strong arm as she asked. "Daddy? Daddy?"

Dana knew that she had made a mistake by asking that question. So she tried it again. "Kara, what do other people call your Daddy?"

Kara snuggled her little head against her Daddy's massive chest. She fully expected to hear that wonderful thumping noise that always calmed her down and made her go to sleep. She heard nothing. "Daddy?!" She yelled as she buried her head deeper into his chest.

"Kara, what do people call your daddy?" Dana asked worriedly as she noticed Kara losing her focus and her cool.

"Caine" Kara whispered barely audible through her tears.

Dana had remembered meeting a Detective named Caine at a funeral a few years back. He had a brand new baby with him. She remembered bringing a gift for the baby to that funeral. This couldn't be the same guy.

Dana ran a quick reference search and found his profile. On the main page, a sweet picture of Peter holding a cute little 1-year-old baby appeared. Below the prominent picture was a caption that read, "Det. Peter Caine and his daughter Kara".

Dana's heart sank. A lump began to develop in her throat. "Kara, has anyone ever called your Daddy: Detective Peter Caine?"

"Yes" Kara whispered and then worriedly looked up into her Daddy's face and spoke confidently, "Daddy, I call help."

Suddenly, the bright white light coming from the face of the mobile phone Kara held turned off. It had glowed brightly in the tiny space under the blanket. Now it was pitch dark.

"Dana?!" Kara screamed in fear. "Daddy, help!"

"Kara? Kara, are you there? Kara?" Dana frantically yelled. She quickly redialed the phone number that called her. To her dismay, an automated message answering system announced that the subscriber was unavailable at this time.

Dana quickly relayed all her information available about Peter Caine to the preparing rescue teams. She also dialed up the two Emergency Contacts on his list.


	4. Chapter 4

Kara-I Will Protect You With All My Mind Body and Soul

Chapter 4

"Daddy!" Kara fearfully screamed as she roughly shook him.

He didn't say anything or move.

"Daddy, I scared!" She sobbed as she lay back down against his quiet frame. She trembled as she pushed her tiny body up against her Daddy. Kara faced away from him so as to keep a watch out for the rescue teams. But, she was also very afraid and pulled the soft warm blanket over her tiny head so she couldn't see the moving shadows of the tree branches swaying in the gentle night breeze. She confidently whispered, "Help coming…Help coming." Within minutes, her eyes grew heavy and somehow she fell back to sleep.

Kara awoke to a truly beautiful sight. The early dawn glowed through a small opening under her warm red blanket. She softly stretched and then gently rolled over to face her Daddy. She whispered softly as she caressed his cheek, "Daddy, awake?"

He didn't move or speak.

"Daddy?!" She loudly whimpered as she shook his shoulder.

He didn't respond.

Kara laid her small head against her Daddy's chest again and began to cry. Daddy had never ever slept that long and he was never that hard to wake up. She knew that there was something very very wrong with Daddy. She continued to cry softly for an unknown period of time. She didn't care. Kara wanted her Daddy back.

Her stomach growled viciously. Kara hadn't realized that she was even hungry until it made the loud grumbling noise. At first, she tried to ignore it. She didn't want to leave her spot next to Daddy. If he suddenly woke up, she wanted to be there. However, her empty stomach wouldn't give up its protest and now it was beginning to hurt.

Kara finally gave in to the calls of her wildly grumbling tummy and rolled over to look out from under the safe blanket. She cautiously lifted up just a small piece of the warm blanket to peek outside for danger. Kara needed to know that she would be okay before she would even consider coming out from under the blanket with her Daddy.

The mid-morning sun danced across the forest floor through the protective leaves of the nearby trees. It didn't exactly glare down but it was still so bright that Kara had to squint her eyes protectively. But, it wasn't as bad as the reflections of the bright sun shining off of the nearby water. She quickly looked away and then slowly crawled out from under her blanket.

Cautiously, Kara made her way over to the purple car. She had remembered that Daddy had opened a box of cookies for her yesterday. She also remembered that she had not finished them. After she confidently climbed into the car like it was Mt. Everest, Kara searched the seats for her box of Animal Crackers.

Kara found the still opened box of cookies on the floor under the seat farthest away from her. Her little hands tightly clenched her much-sought-after prize as she climbed back up into the soft seat.

Kara was still a little too small to see out the clear windshield as she sat down on the comfy seat. She didn't like it. Kara needed to keep watch over Daddy. So she stood up on the seat and leaned hard against the stiff dashboard as she hungrily jammed the really good cookies into her tiny mouth. She barely chewed as she ate. It was really good.

Suddenly, Kara thought about how hungry her Daddy should be too. So she jumped out of the tall car and rushed over to her Daddy who was still covered up by the red plaid blanket. "Daddy hungry?" she whispered as she lifted the heavy blanket up to check on him.

He didn't move or respond.

"Daddy Hungry?!" She yelled.

He lay silent.

Kara didn't care if he was asleep, he needed to eat too. So she removed a big cookie from her tiny red box and shoved it into his still mouth. "Daddy eat." She said contentedly as she sat down against his legs and continued to wolf down her delicious cookies.

Within minutes, Kara's mouth was feeling really dry. Those cookies, coupled with the fact that she had cried off and on all night and day, had dried her out. "Water?" Kara whimpered to her Daddy.

He didn't respond.

Kara slowly stood up and shuffled over to her Daddy's face and leaned in close, "Daddy, water?" she questioned louder as she stared worriedly into his still features.

He continued to lie silently in front of Kara.

Kara's dry mouth continued to beg her for cool clean water. She needed to find some real soon. That is when her eyes caught sight of the large quiet water Daddy had brought them here to see. "Water" she whispered and then left her Daddy's side to go get a drink.

Kara ended her thirsty walk at the steep edge of a sheer Cliffside. Kara had happily watched her Daddy stand in this very spot fishing yesterday. However, she needed water and it was too steep to climb down at this spot. Kara frowned but didn't give up.

She squinted her little brown eyes as she searched the water's edge down the way for an easier access point. Pretty far away, Kara saw the land go flat leading straight into the water. "Water" she hungrily whispered and began her purposeful walk.

The noon-day sun reflected viciously at Kara off the pristine lake. It made her hold her hand over her eyes to protect them. It was hot and she was getting really tired. She had no idea how long she had been walking but Kara was just about ready to give up when she finally stepped up to the cold water of the still lake.

Once Kara kneeled down next to the softly rippling waterline, she cupped her little hands and scooped up the clear liquid into them. With the water quickly escaping her grasp, she quickly slurped up as much as she could. Instantly, she spit it out, "Yucky!"

The nasty taste of the water might have slowed her down but, Kara didn't stop drinking it. Her little body needed it. Soon, she had her fill.

With her tummy sloshing around with the "yucky" water, Kara turned around to go back the way she came. But, she forgot which way she had come from. Which way was here Daddy? A real fear began to rise inside Kara as she searched down the lake banks for any idea of which way she had come from. She couldn't see her Daddy or the purple car anywhere.

While truly frightened, Kara began to run. She had no real direction in mind. She just needed to find her Daddy and she needed to find him now! Her desperate run led straight into the dense forest. The whole time she was frantically running, Kara was yelling, "Daddy?!"

Not more than a few minutes later, Kara's tiny tummy began to hurt. She wasn't hungry. It just started hurting and it was hurting really bad. It soon became so bad that Kara had to stop running. She cried in pain as she lay down on a small patch of sun-lit grass next to a large tree and curled up into a tiny ball. Her stomach was now hurting so bad, she couldn't think about anything else. Kara cradled her tummy and cried, "Daddy, I hurt."

Kara's tummy gradually became more painful as time went on. Not only that, she started to feel really hot and dizzy. "Daddy," she whispered in pain. "I hurt. Help." Then, she closed her eyes and painfully cried.


	5. Chapter 5

Kara-I Will Protect You With All My Mind Body and Soul

Chapter 5

"Kara?" came a familiar voice in the dense forest. "Kara, there you are." He sweetly called.

Kara slowly opened her eyes. She didn't move any other muscles. She hurt too much. Kara needed a moment to focus but soon caught the most wonderful sight in the whole wide world. Her wonderful Daddy hovered worriedly over her curled up aching body.

"Daddy!" She weakly yelled.

"Kara?" Peter lovingly asked. "What are you doing all the way out here, Sweety?"

"Daddy, I hurt." Kara cried painfully as she rubbed her aching tummy.

"Come here, Kara. Sit on my lap. I will take care of you." Peter fatherly announced as he sat down cross-legged next to Kara.

It took all her strength to try to move, her hurting tummy had drained all of her energy out of her. Not only that, every single movement she made caused her even more pain. Somehow, she managed to painfully crawl up into her Daddy's lap. Once she had gotten into the safety of her Daddy's embrace, Kara curled up warmly in his lap and laid her small head against his muscular arm. "I love you, Daddy." She contentedly whispered as she let sleep claim her.

Kara slowly woke up fully expecting to still be inside her Daddy's warm lap. She was startled to find that she was all alone on the warm piece of sun-lit grass. She painfully sat up and looked around for her Daddy. The warm sun was beginning to leave the sky and the gentle breeze was turning chilly. "Daddy?!" She fearfully yelled when she couldn't see him anywhere.

"Kara, I'm right here." He reassured her as he appeared from around a tall tree.

Kara's tiny tummy hadn't given up its painful aching. It had subsided quite a bit but she could still feel the stinging pains and grumbling. "Daddy, I hurt." Kara whimpered as she gently rubbed her aching belly.

Peter knelt warmly next to his beautiful daughter. "Kara, Sweety, I can help you feel better." He gently reassured her as he sat down against the large tree Kara had been sleeping under. He crossed his legs and opened his arms invitingly, "Come here and sit with me."

Kara used up all her newly gained strength to crawl over to her Daddy and climb into his lap. She was exhausted and sighed as she settled into a comfortable spot in his lap. Her tummy still hurt and it was draining all the energy out her body still. She didn't care. She was with Daddy.

"My father, your granddad, used to do this every time I had gotten hurt. It always made me feel better." Peter announced as he held out his hands. Suddenly, his face turned serious as he closed his eyes in concentration. As quick as lightning and with a purposeful determination, he clapped his hands together firmly. With his eyes still tightly closed, he vigorously rubbed his palms together.

Kara watched her Daddy in amazement, he was up to something. She didn't know what. She really wasn't scared. Actually, Kara was really happy. Happy to be in the strong arms of her Daddy. And, this was fun.

After nearly a minute of vigorously rubbing his palms together, Peter opened his eyes and tenderly caressed his hurting daughter's stomach with his warm hands. He never lost focus on his goal to heal her pain as he stopped over her soft tummy and held still in place. He silently held that spot for at least a couple of minutes.

Kara's unrelenting stomach ache began to feel better at the touch of her Daddy's warm hands. Soon, she felt perfectly wonderful. She even felt energized. Kara smiled sweetly as she made eye contact wonderful Daddy. She felt so good and so happy that she leapt up and clung tightly to her Daddy. "I love you, Daddy!"

Peter joyfully returned his daughter's strong hug. "I knew that my Pop's miracle cure would work." He joked as he held on tightly to his beautiful daughter's small frame. "I love you, too." He added sentimentally. "I love you, too."

Both father and daughter stayed like that for a very long time.

For reasons unknown to herself, Kara finally let go of her strangling hold on her Daddy. She really wanted to stay the way they were for forever.

Peter snatched up that moment to stand up. "We have to go back now, Kara." He sadly announced as he offered her his hand to hold.

Kara's brown eyes lit up, "Up!" She excitedly exclaimed as she extended her little arms toward her Daddy.

"No Kara, you have to walk with me." Peter insisted as he shook his huge hand at her. "Grab my hand, Sweety."

Kara stood in place and pouted. She was tired of walking all over this scary forest. All she wanted right now was for her strong Daddy to carry her. That's all.

Peter carefully reached down and snatched up his cranky daughter's tiny hand. "Come on, Sweety. I can't carry you right now. Please walk with me, please?"

She looked up angrily into his pleading eyes but, she couldn't stay mad at him for too long. Daddy was giving her his sad eyes and she was powerless to resist him. "I walk." She happily agreed as she tightened her grip on her Daddy's strong hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Kara-I Will Protect You With All My Mind Body and Soul

Chapter 6

Peter and Kara slowly trudged hand-in-hand deep into the ever growing darkness of the lush forest. The warm afternoon sun had set and the full moon was rising.

As the forest canopy's darkness began to surround them, Kara started to become frightened. "I scared." She fearfully whimpered to her strong Daddy as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"Don't worry Kara. Daddy is here to protect you." He warmly reassured her. "Just remember, I can beat those bad guys up for you."

Kara didn't feel any better. She was still terrified of the dark and so she pushed up closer to her Daddy's leg. Now they nearly walked as one.

"Daddy, I scared."

Peter playfully shook the hand-hold connection between him and his wonderful Kara and happily asked, "Wanna play a game? It is fun."

"Okay" Kara grudgingly agreed.

"I call this game: Copy Cat." Peter happily offered as he made eye contact with his frightened daughter. "Everything I do, you have to do the same, _you_ copy _me_."

"Okay"

Peter playfully stuck out his tongue at Kara as he continued walking.

Kara looked up at him with terrified eyes and then smiled, "Daddy funny." She giggled and then stuck out her tongue at him.

Peter then hopped a quick skip as he strolled hand-in-hand with his daughter. "Try _that_ one." He taunted with a quick grin.

Kara laughed hard as she copied his joyful skip.

Father and daughter continued this happy game until Kara saw a bright light glistening through the trees in the distance. She pointed to the light and looked up at her Daddy in hope. "Light?"

Peter nodded his head only slightly as he led Kara to the edge of the spotlight lit area. He really didn't want this to end just yet so he slowed down just a little.

Once they had arrived in the dimmest part of the spotlight lit area, Peter stopped cold and lovingly kneeled down in front of his beautiful 3 year old daughter. His pain-filled eyes locked instantly with her brown eyes. Then suddenly, he gently pulled the small child into a tight embrace.

"Kara, I can't go any further. Daddy stops here." Peter spoke through fast falling tears as he somehow pulled out of the tight hug. "I need you to be a good girl now. You promise to be a good girl?" He choked out.

Kara began sobbing sadly. She didn't know why her Daddy was so sad and why he couldn't go with her. She managed to rip out of his hands and latch on to his strong mid-section. She wasn't going to let him go. Daddy wasn't going anywhere, at least not without her. "Daddy No Go!" She bawled loudly as she held on tightly.

"Daddy has to go, Sweety. Just don't forget, I will always be watching you. I will be in a spot where you can't see me, but I will be there." Peter promised as he held her soft hands and maintained a lovingly direct eye contact. "Every time you are sad, remember me from right here." He added as her pressed his trembling hand against her small chest where her heart was. "Be strong, Kara." He whispered as he pulled her in for one more tight hug. He needed it as much as she did.

Kara hugged her Daddy as hard as she could. Why was he doing this? Why was he saying goodbye? She wanted to stay with Daddy. "No Daddy Stay!" She choked out a whisper into his ear. "Stay Daddy."

Peter somehow was able to push his precious daughter away from their tight hug. He didn't know how he found the strength to do it, but he did it. He held out at arms length and then bowed his head in sadness.

Kara stood perfectly still in shock as she looked at her once strong and confident Daddy sitting on his knees in a sad shaking bow. She had hot wet tears running down her chubby cheeks as she waited for what Daddy was going to do next. She just hoped that whatever it was, he was going to do it with her. "Daddy No Go." She whispered again as she watched him cry.

Peter carefully turned her little body away from him. He faced her into the bright glare of the unstoppable spotlights. "Daddy's right here. I'm right behind you." He whispered and then with all his gathered strength, he shoved her as hard as he could into the well lit meadow.

Kara was pushed so hard that she ended up a good 20 feet into the bright light. She wasn't expecting the push and just ran with it until the momentum slowed her down to a stop. When she realized what had happened, Kara swung around quickly and screamed at the top of her little lungs, "Daddy!" As she continued to scream over and over for her Daddy, she began to run back to the forest where she had left him.

A hardworking middle-aged investigator was diligently and carefully inspecting the recent crime scene. He had tracked and was photographing a very large set of boot marks in the sand. He was actually gathering evidence on six separate sets of footprints in the light dust. He had already documented four of them when he started tracking this set.

The hardworking investigator had just rounded the front of the purple Stealth following the path of the distinct boot-prints. He nearly jumped in surprise when a 3 year old little girl appeared out of the forest in a full run. She literally ran straight into him. He instinctively reached out and snatched up the world weary child into his strong arms while still juggling his camera and evidence bag.

Kara let out a terrified wail. She had only just stopped and turned back toward her father when someone snatched her up. She threw a fit in the arms of the stranger as she screamed plaintively for her Daddy. Kara used all of her resources to try to free herself but the strange man wouldn't let go.

Investigator Joshua Green couldn't believe his fortune. Everyone had been frantically searching for hours for this lost little toddler. The massive search parties were actually still out there combing the dense forest for the frightened child. And even though he was startled by the sudden appearance of the filthy child, he did have enough presence of mind to scoop her up gently and rush her to the waiting paramedics.

The Crime Scene Investigators had set up a blue plastic tent next to Peter's purple Dodge Stealth as their base of operations. They were running both the crime scene investigations and the search-and-rescue out of the 20 foot by 15 foot tent. Inside the small makeshift office, they had set up 3 computerized workstations to document the evidence, 1 workstation for the rescue effort, and a small area for the EMT's to work if anyone got hurt.

Investigator Green came barreling into the blue tent at full speed with his unhappy load. The little girl was screaming "Daddy" the whole time as he was carrying her while at the same time giving him the fight of her life. If he had bothered to remember her name, he may have been able to calm her a bit but he didn't think that _he_ of all people would find the lost rug-rat. He pushed passed the crowd of officers and ran the distraught child straight up to the EMT station. "I found her! I found her!" He kept yelling as the adrenalin kicked in.

The whole tent went to chaos as he rushed through. Everyone that had been carefully attending to their duties swung around to see what was going on. Then they all began to talk all at once and all very loudly. Most went to the EMT station to just watch them work on the frightened little girl.

"DADDY!" Kara kept screaming at the top of her lungs as the mean man passed her off to a different stranger. "DADDY, COME BACK!"

EMT Angel Hansen carefully pried the frightened little girl out of the strong grip of Investigator Green. He could tell by the little girl's overall looks that she was in pretty good health. And by the way that she was screaming, he could tell that she was in way better health than most children her age would have been after a day and a half alone in a scary forest.

"Let Me Go!" Kara screamed at the strange man that was now placing her down on a nearby table.

"Hi Kara, I am Angel. I just need to check you out, okay?" He asked softly as he carefully sat her down.

The moment that the "Angel" man sat her down, Kara jumped off the table and began to bolt for the door. She managed to avoid several good grabs as she b-lined for the small exit on the opposite side of the room. She knew that if she could make it she could get back to her Daddy.

The whole tent went into a screaming frenzy when the small child got loose. Officers were diving everywhere to catch the little rocket. Others were yelling to block the exit. And still others were standing in place in pure shock of the whole situation. It took the calm mind and sensibility of an Aunt to catch the terrified little girl.

"Kara! Calm down." Kelly yelled over the din. "Come over here. I will take care of you."

Kara was dodging under one of the computer workstations when she heard Auntie Kelly yell at her but she wasn't sure it was Auntie Kelly. She trembled hard in her obvious hiding place.

"Kara Sweetie it's okay." Kelly smoothly called out as she tip-toed over to Kara's hiding place. "We are here to help, okay?"

One of the not-so-bright officers lifted the table cloth up to look at the hiding child. He thought that all he needed to do was just grab her and this would be over. When he reached down to snatch up her little arm, she kicked out at him faster than he could react and landed her little foot square into his cheek. He felt back with a cry as she screamed, "DADDY!"

"Why did you do that?" Kelly yelled at the injured officer. "Leave her alone! I have this. Let me do it."

Then Kelly's voice turned soft again, "Kara we need you to come out now. I will not let anyone harm you. You can stay with me, okay?"

"Daddy! I want Daddy!" Kara screamed out from her hiding place.

"I will help you find him. How about that? Will you come to Auntie Kelly?" Kelly asked sweetly as she lifted the paper tablecloth. She was careful not to end up with the same fate as the idiotic officer being attended to by the EMTs.

"You find Daddy?" She asked through her tears.

"Yeah, we will find him together." Kelly nodded as she hunched down under the tablecloth.

Kara leapt up into Kelly's arms and pulled her into a tight hug. "I scared." She cried hard.

Kelly began to cry softly as she wrapped her arms around the trembling child. She could feel the fear coursing through the tiny frame of the 3 year old. She could only imagine what it really felt like to be Kara right now. "I got you, Kara. I got you." She reassured as she held the little one close.


End file.
